Progenitor
by 2trip
Summary: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Orochimaru takes an interest in the origins of chakra after encountering a red-haired boy with the Sage's eyes.
1. Prologue: The Tale of the Sage

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." – Arthur C. Clarke

An old story tells that one-thousand years ago, a rabbit-eared goddess descended from heaven and lived among warring peoples in the world below. Her ancestral people instructed her to find and claim a remnant of divine power, and she followed traces of mystical energy to the root of a great tree, whose fruit bore divine essence. But she grew fond of the people in whose world she lived, so with undying patience she waited and guarded the tree she was sent to claim, entwining herself with those who lived at its root.

As humans often do, however, they betrayed her, and her fondness for humanity turned to bitter hatred. In her anger, the goddess sought the inexorable power of true divinity, taking the fruit she was sent to claim and consuming it. From the first bite, she left her people behind and gained the power to end war forever.

The people rebelled against their goddess, the one who sought to subdue their reckless nature, and fought her with vicious ferocity. But the divine essence fueled and protected her. They broke like waves on rock.

Slowly, as the world settled into an uneasy peace under her rule, the goddess forgot her rage, grew to love a carefully-chosen few, and chose to bear children of her own. Kaguya, for that was her name, bore two sons; Hagoromo and Hamura, and together, they were more powerful than their mother. When they came of age, they left her side to subdue the restless few. They took no weapons, for they *were* weapons; weapons of divine authority and deific might, sent by the one true goddess to carry out her will.

And the rest is history; Hagoromo and Hamura destroyed the tyrant Kaguya, the Ten-Tailed beast awoke, was destroyed, and Hagoromo gifted chakra and the Tailed Beasts to the rest of humanity before his death, leading humanity into the Era of Warring Clans, Hashirama and Madara's alliance and the creation of the Hidden Village system.

That's what they _say_ , anyway.


	2. Apprentice

Orochimaru strode lightly over the muddy ground of Rain Country, a careful application of chakra allowing him to move easily where a civilian would sink knee-deep into the mire. Nearby, Tsunade fended off another of their white-haired pervert of a teammate's pathetic attempts to win her favor. He ignored them, as usual, narrow eyes scanning the horizon for telltale flickers of movement. He hardly noticed the orphans following them. In Rain, they were a common-enough sight, hardly worth a second glance. His innate chakra-sensing ability, minimal as it was, had confirmed earlier that they weren't shinobi, and so required none of his ever-so-valuable attention.

However, in trusting his chakra-sense above all else, he missed a key detail. Only when Tsunade turned in alarm at a sudden movement did he turn to look at them more closely and see what had caught his hot-tempered teammates attention. Her adrenaline faded as the girl who'd surprised her offered an origami flower and an innocent smile.

"Thank you for the food!"

 _Kami…spare me the gratitude of naïve children,_ thought Orochimaru with an inaudible sigh, slowly turning to observe the proceedings.

The girl was roughly pushed aside as her orange-haired companion forced himself to the front, eyes flashing angrily.

"Teach us ninjutsu."

 _The audacity. If it would be something other than a total waste of time, I'd teach him his place with my own two hands._

"Shall I kill these children?" the pallid Sannin asked coldly, taking a loose combat stance. _For their insolence_ , he left unsaid.

As the children's eyes widened in fear and they fell back, a flicker of sadistic pride lit Orochimaru's eyes, but it took only a moment for something else to draw his predatory gaze; the concentric rings and violet hue of the Eyes of Samsara; the Rinnegan.

For a moment, all was still. In another life, those eyes might have stayed hidden under a fringe of dark red hair, and the Snake Sage would have remained ignorant of the potential within until far, far too late.

As it was, however, he could not resist taking advantage of this chance. As he recovered from his momentary loss of focus, Jiraiya intervened.

"That's enough, Orochimaru. You go on ahead with Tsunade. I'll stay behind and look after them for a while. It's the least I can do."

Orochimaru shook his head. "No…the loss of even a single member of the Sannin from the frontlines will reduce impact on enemy morale by significant margins. 'Orochimaru and Tsunade' do not bear the same weight 'The Legendary Sannin' do. Bring them with us. I will take responsibility for the red-haired one. You care for the loud one; his brashness seems to suit you. Tsunade; take the girl; she may have some talent for medical techniques, if her precision with paper is any measure."

Tsunade bristled, "Orochi…are you implying that _my_ prized medical techniques are on the same level as _origami_?"

"Of course not. I merely suggested that an aptitude for more…refined arts suggests she might possess an appropriate attitude for medical jutsu."

The fiery blond huffed. "Fine. Girl, you're with me. Don't get in the way."

The orange-haired one's control had been slowly slipping over the course of the conversation, and Tsunade's disrespectful tone was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Don't talk to Konan like that! And who says we're coming with you, anyway? This is our home! You can't just drag us off to who-knows-where!"

Orochimaru graced him with a small, sadistic smile, "And where, precisely, do you live, child? You don't have any family? You don't have any allies? I thought not. You should be glad someone bothered to take notice of such poor, pathetic souls."

"Lighten up, snake-face," Jiraiya grumbled. "Anyway, kid, the bastard's right. You're safer with us than you are on your own, and I can't be away from the frontlines for too long anyway. Look at it this way; when all's said and done, you can learn some jutsu when we have spare time, and there'll be a bit of food to spare, so you won't starve. It's a good deal, kid. Get while the getting's good, as they say."

"Are we just going to sit around and chat all day?" Tsunade interjected, tapping her foot impatiently and already holding the blue-haired girl's hand.

"Your answer, boy," Orochimaru hissed. "Or you will remain here, alone and untrained."

"Fine! But I'm not learning _anything_ from _you,_ asshole!" the young firebrand growled.

"Hm. As if I would waste valuable time and energy on _you_ ," he sniffed disdainfully before turning to the last of the orphan trio.

"You, on the other hand…" he paused and looked meaningfully at the redhead. "…you, I will teach _personally_. You don't have the slightest clue, do you? Allow me to shed some light on the subject. You possess the third and most powerful of a trio of heritable traits known as dojutsu. The first and purest is the Byakugan, which possesses unparalleled insight. The second is the Sharingan, which possesses unmatched visual prowess. The last…the last is said to be the final remnant of the Old Gods' power, and is said to bestow upon the user unrivaled skill with chakra. What knowledge I possess I will give to you, in exchange for the right to observe and guide you as you learn to use those eyes of yours." Here he paused once more, meeting the boy's wide eyes.

His sibilant voice rang out firmly through the tense atmosphere. "Will you be my apprentice, child?"

The timid heir of the Sage's eyes faltered for a moment, drawing back, and for a moment it seemed even to his companions that he would refuse. But, he balled his fists, drew himself to his full height, and looked back at the Sage with a steady gaze.

"I will."


End file.
